7 Multidisciplinary Books & Resources for Designers

As a hardcore book nerd, I maximize opportunities to stock up. I scrimp and save to acquire the graphic design resources I feel are essential to my collection. I’m currently at the point where my book book buying splurge will reach a hyperactive level and I’ll unabashedly stock up on all the graphic design resources I want.

For other book and graphic design nerds, I am listing the top items on my shopping list. MyDesignShop features products that every designer needs – from books on design theory and practice, to Pantone products, to OnDemand Webcast downloads featuring expert advice, and even to inspirational decorations. The realm of resources in the store helps designers fine-tune their skills and deepen their comprehension of critical design concepts.

Here are the top items on the list, featuring books of both the eye-candy coffee-table persuasion, and some with a bit more intellectual oomph:

Intriguing & Inspiring Design Books

We all live in a media-saturated world that’s constantly in flux and becomes increasingly more difficult to define. As designers, this versatility makes it difficult to decide which media is the best choice for our editorial visions. With Designing the Editorial Experience by Sue Apfelbaum and Juliette Cezzar, discover what it means to design for multiple media, and gather advice from professionals in both the design and editorial fields in order to decide which mediums best suit your various design needs.

Plus, get editorial design inspiration from examples of the best in the field being created today. Explore the audiences for content, what forms the content takes, how workflows are managed, and more. Get it here.

In Paper Folding Templates for Print Design, the industry expert on folding, Trish Witkowski of foldfactory.com, gives you tips and tricks for mastering the art of paper folding. She starts with the basics and moves on to advanced concepts, giving you low to high budget options. If you’re on a budget, no problem. If you’ve got a particularly special project, she’ll show you how to make it look amazing, sparing no expense. Get it here.

Whether you drink beer or not, the recent growth of the craft brewing industry and its popularity is undeniable. What better way is there to celebrate the increase of breweries than to admire one of the aspects that makes these beers great: their label design? Featuring well-designed labels from craft and small breweries from around the world, Cool Beer Labels by Daniel Bellon and Steven Speeg demonstrates how commercialized packaging design can be elevated to a whole new level. Not only will you get a chance to peruse these label designs, but you’ll also find interviews with those involved in their design process, like the owner, master brewer, or designer of the packaging. Get a taste of quality packaging design, and great beer, and delve into an exploration of fun design and a celebration of the craft brew culture. Get it here.

Color Inspirations is a compendium of more than 3000 beautiful color palette ideas from COLOURlovers.com. They’ve gathered the top palettes and captured them in book form to be easy to peruse at a glance. They’ve also compiled them into a swatch library so you can easily download any color palette you prefer straight into your favorite design programs! Note: The free swatch library will be automatically delivered by email after you check out. It’s not neccessary to add it to your cart! Get it here.

Hand-drawn type is extremely versatile, and can be incorporated into a range of areas within design and illustration, like packaging, posters, editorial, online graphics, advertising, and signage. Plus, the hand-made look is becoming increasingly prevalent among all these disciplines.

Serving as inspiration as well as a helpful workbook, Drawing Type by Alex Fowkes is sure to encourage any designer to draw and explore type. Featuring actual projects and sketchbooks of prominent type designers, as well as interviews about their processes, this guide to hand-drawn type helps clarify the process of drawing typefaces for anyone looking to improve their type design skills. Get it here.

Resource packs for the all-in-one creative:

This sweet collection from the truly beloved and consistently extraordinary Debbie Millman includes her book, Self-Portrait as YourTraitor,AND an awesome poster Debbie adapted from a David Foster Wallace quote on leadership.

Debbie’s hand-lettered typography — sometimes tender, sometimes gritty, always breathtaking in its visceral candor — makes Self Portrait as Your Traitor a moving masterpiece of a singular art form that speaks to our deepest longings for beauty, honesty, and the ineffable magic of what it means to live.

This poster first made its debut at the HOW Design Live Conference. These signed posters are not available anywhere outside of this bundle, so reserve yours by ordering today!

There’s no doubt that color plays a crucial role in every design project. Despite its importance, many designers find color to be the most frustrating aspect of their work to get exactly right. In this ultimate collection of all things color, you’ll find thirteen resources for helping you rediscover inspiration and creativity in your color design work. From palette-building techniques to color theory, this collection will give you a comprehensive library of resources you can use time and time again. Through the books and videos in this collection, you’ll be able to take a look back through the major milestones in color history and then see how they affect current color communication and trends to make sure you’re making the right decisions in your work. Whether you’re a color enthusiast or simply looking for ideas for your design projects, this collection has something to inspire you. Get the collection here.